Device for transferring film

ABSTRACT

A device for transferring a film is provided. The device includes a roller transferring a film; a balancing unit connected to the roller by fixed supporters, the fixed supporters being disposed on both sides of the roller; and springs disposed on both sides of the balancing unit, wherein, if the film is out of balance, the balancing unit restores balance to the film by vibrating the both sides of the balancing unit. That is, if a film becomes out of balance during the transfer of the film, the device may restore balance to the film with the aid of the balancing unit which can vibrate on both sides of the balancing unit due to the springs.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device for transferring a film, andmore particularly, to a device for transferring a film, in which, if afilm becomes out of balance during the transfer of the film, balance canbe restored to the film with the aid of a pair of springs that arerespectively disposed on both sides of a balancing unit.

BACKGROUND ART

Flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) films, which are one of the mostimportant materials of flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs), aregenerally fabricated by depositing, electroplating orelectroless-plating a conductive metal on an insulation film.

Polyester films, polyimide films, liquid crystal polymer films, orfluorine resin films may be used as insulation films of FCCL films.Polyimide films have been most widely used in the manufacture of FCCLfilms because of their excellent heat resistance, dimensional stability,and solderability properties. Conductive metal films of FCCL films mayinclude a highly conductive metal such as gold or copper. Copper hasbeen more widely used than gold as the material of conductive metalfilms of flexible films because of its high cost effectiveness.

Insulation films may be supplied into a device for fabricating a FCCLfilm using a transfer device. In order to smoothly supply flexible filmsinto a device for fabricating a FCCL film, a transfer device equippedwith transfer rollers may be used. More specifically, in order tomaintain the balance of an insulation film during the transfer of theinsulation film, a transfer device with a plurality of transfer rollersevenly spaced therein may be used.

However, even if a plurality of transfer rollers in a transfer deviceare evenly spaced, the transfer device may not be able to restorebalance to a film which is out of balance if the transfer rollers areall fixed onto a supporting plate.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention provides a device for transferring a film, whichincludes a balancing unit capable of restoring balance to a film if thefilm becomes out of balance during the transfer of the film.

Technical Solution

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided adevice for transferring a film, the device including a rollertransferring a film; a balancing unit connected to the roller by fixedsupporters, the fixed supporters being disposed on both sides of theroller; and springs disposed on both sides of the balancing unit,wherein, if the film is out of balance, the balancing unit restoresbalance to the film by vibrating the both sides of the balancing unit.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

It is possible to easily maintain the balance of a film during thetransfer of the film. In addition, the device for transferring a filmaccording to the present invention compensates for the imbalance of afilm simply using springs without a requirement of additional equipmentor additional power consumption, thereby reducing the manufacturingcost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a device fortransferring a film according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the device;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the device;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the device; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an operation of the device.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention will hereinafter be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments ofthe invention are shown.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a device 1 for transferring afilm. Referring to FIG. 1, the device 1 includes a transfer roller 2which transfers a film; a pair of fixed supporter 3 which arerespectively disposed on both sides of the transfer roller 2 and areconnected to the transfer roller 2 by a pair of spindles 4; and abalancing unit 10 which is connected to the fixed supports 3.

The balancing unit 10 includes a compensation bar 11 which is attachedto the fixed supports 3, a fixed bar 20 which is connected to thecompensation bar 11 so that the compensation bar 11 can vibrate on bothsides thereof, and a pair of springs 29 which are disposed between thecompensation bar 11 and the fixed bar 20.

The transfer roller 2 is cylindrical, and is connected to the fixedsupports 3 by the spindles 4 so as to be able to rotate. A film isplaced in contact with the surface of the transfer roller 2 and is movedtoward a desired direction upon rotation of the transfer roller 2.

If a film transferred by the transfer roller 2 is out of balance, thebalancing unit 10 restores balance to the film. A middle portion of thecompensation bar 11 is connected to a middle portion of the fixed bar 20by a spindle 4, and both sides of the compensation bar 11 arerespectively connected to both sides of the fixed bar 20 by the springs29. Thus, the compensation bar 11 can vibrate on the both sides thereof.Therefore, when the film transferred by the transfer roller 2 is out ofbalance, balance can be restored to the film by the compensation bar 11which vibrates on the both sides of the transfer roller 2 due to thesprings 29.

A pair of rolling axial members 12 and 21 is respectively coupled to themiddle portions of the compensation bar 11 and the fixed bar 20 by bolts14. When the rolling axial members 12 and 21 are coupled together, abearing 25 and an axle 26 are inserted into a groove 21-1 of the rollingaxial member 21 so that the compensation bar 11 can be fixed to thefixed bar 20, and that the compensation bar 11 can vibrate on the bothsides thereof while the middle portion of the compensation bar 11 isfixed by the rolling axial members 12 and 21.

A pair of spring connectors 16 is formed on the compensation bar 11, anda pair of spring connectors 27 are formed on the fixed bar 20. Thespring connectors 16 and the spring connectors 27 may be used to connectthe springs 290 between the compensation bar 11 and the fixed bar 20.The spring connectors 16 may be coupled to the compensation bar 11 by apair of bolts 15, and the spring connectors 27 may be coupled to thefixed bar 20 by a pair of bolts 28. The springs 29 may be installedbetween the spring connectors 16 and the respective spring connectors27, and thus, the both sides of the compensation bar 11 may berespectively connected to the both sides of the fixed bar 20.

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the device 1. Referring to FIG.2, the device 1 includes a transfer roller 2 which transfers a film; acompensation bar 11 which is connected to the transfer roller 2 by apair of fixed supports 3; a fixed bar 20; and a pair of springs 29 whichare disposed between the compensation bar 11 and the fixed bar 20 andmaintain the balance of the transfer roller 2. A middle portion of thecompensation bar 11 is connected to a middle portion of the fixed bar 20by an axle 26 so that the compensation bar 11 can vibrate on both sidesthereof.

The transfer roller 2 transfers a film. According to an embodiment ofthe present invention, a plurality of devices 1 are fixed in a conveyordevice frame, and a film may be transferred toward a desired directionby alternately passing the film through a plurality of transfer rollers2 of the devices 1.

If a film to be transferred by the device 1 is too long, the film mayeasily become out of balance. If a film is out of balance, the device 1may restore balance to the film with the aid of the compensation bar 11which keeps vibrating on both sides of the transfer roller 2.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a front view and a side view, respectively, ofthe device 1. Referring to FIG. 3, a rotation axis 4 of the transferroller 2 may not be aligned with the longitudinal axis of thecompensation bar 11. Referring to FIG. 4, the rotation axis 4 of thetransfer roller 2 may deviate from the central axis of a spring 29 by adistanced.

By deviating the rotation axis of the transfer roller 4 from the centralaxis of a spring 29 by the distance d, it is possible to attenuate theforce applied to the device 1 by a film during the transfer of the film.Therefore, it is possible to improve the balance restoration capabilityof the device 1 by strengthening the supporting force of the device 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates an operation of the device 1. Referring to FIG. 5,when a sheet-type film is mounted on the device 1, the device 1transfers the film using the rotation force of the transfer roller 2. Ifthe film is too long, it is necessary to maintain the balance of thefilm during the transfer of the film. The film may be deflected andbecome out of balance while being transferred by the device 1, due to animbalance in the force applied to the film.

Once the film is out of balance, the transfer roller 2 is tilted to afirst side of the transfer roller 2, for example, to the left or theright, by a predetermined degree in accordance with a direction in whicha strong force is applied to the film. As a result, whichever of thesprings 29 is disposed on the first side of the transfer roller 2compresses and generates a repulsive force due to its elasticity. Then,the transfer roller 2, which is connected to the compensation bar 11,returns to its original position due to the repulsive force.

If the repulsive force is too strong to tilt the transfer roller 2 to asecond side of the transfer roller 2, whichever of the springs 29 isdisposed on the second side of the transfer roller 2 compresses andgenerates a repulsive force so that the transfer roller 2 can return toits original position. In this manner, if a film becomes out of balanceduring the transfer of the film, balance may be restored to the film bythe transfer roller 2 which vibrates along with the compensation bar 11due to a repulsive force generated upon the compression of the springs29.

The device 1 may be used to fabricate a flexible copper clad laminate(FCCL) film. More specifically, the device 1 may be installed in adevice for fabricating an FCCL film using a conveyor belt system. Inthis case, it is possible to improve the reliability of a flexibleprinted circuit board (FPCB) using an FCCL film by smoothly transferringan insulation film supplied into the device for fabricating an FCCL filmand maintaining the balance of the insulation film.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the device for transferring a film according to thepresent invention includes a balancing unit which includes springsdisposed below a transfer roller and is thus capable of restoringbalance to a film using the springs if the film becomes out of balanceduring the transfer of the film. Thus, it is possible to easily maintainthe balance of a film during the transfer of the film. In addition, thedevice for transferring a film according to the present inventioncompensates for the imbalance of a film simply using springs without arequirement of additional equipment or additional power consumption,thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.

1. A device of transporting a film, the device comprising: a rollertransporting a film; a balance unit connected with the roller by fixedsupports installed at both sides of the roller; and springs installed atboth sides of the balance unit, wherein the balance unit compensates abalance of the film by oscillating the both sides of the balance unit upand down when the film is out of balance.
 2. The device of claim 1,wherein the balance unit comprises: a compensating bar connected withthe fixed support; and a fixed bar connected with a lower part of thecompensating bar by a spindle, wherein both sides of the fixed bar isconnected with both sides of the compensating bar by the springs, andthe both sides of the compensating bar oscillates up and down.
 3. Thedevice of claim 2, wherein the spindle comprises; a bearing; and an axleconnecting the compensating bar to the fixed bar through the bearing. 4.The device of claim 2, wherein the fixed bar is connected with a middlelower part of the compensating bar by the spindle.
 5. The device ofclaim 1, further comprising, a spindle connecting the roller to thefixed supports, wherein the spindle is spaced a predetermined distanceapart from a central axis of each of the springs.